Vertical-shaft bearing.



No. 679,078. Patented July 23, 190:.

P. L. KIMBALL.

VERTICAL SHAFT BEARING.

(Application filed Apr. 22, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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ATENT PERLEY L. KIMBALL, OF BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TOTI'IE VERMONT FARM MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

VERTICAL-SHAFT BEARING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 679,078, dated July 23, 1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERLEY L. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing and having post-office address at Bellows Falls, in the county of WVindham and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vertical-Shaft Bearings, Specially Useful in Centrifugal Separators, of which the following is a specification, whereby any one skilled in the art may make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a support for the end of a vertical shaft which shall absorb vibration and furnish a somewhat yielding support for the lower end of the shaft, and means whereby this object is accomplished are shown in the drawings, of which Figure l is a sectional side view of the lower part of the frame of a centrifugal separator, showing my invention embodied therein. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of a modification of my invention. Fig. 3 is a top view of the spring. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line a; :0 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, 1 denotes the frame. 2 is the shaft carrying the separatorbowl, having a bearing in the bushing 3 and having at the lower end the step 4. The plug 5 is inserted in the bushing 3, at the bottom thereof, and carries the step 6. The opposing faces of the steps at and 6 are hardened, and between them are located balls to form a bearing on which the shaft may turn. The plug 5 is split, as at 10, recessed and screwthreaded interiorly, and the bolt 7 is threaded to engage the threads on the interior of said plug, its lower end resting on the spring 8, which is a fiat spring arched slightly at its center and having its ends resting in sockets formed in the base of the frame. These cen-' trifugal separators are revolved at a very high rate of speed on a vertical shaft, and I have found that the introduction of the ball-bearing, and especially of the yielding support for the end of the shaft, very materially increases the even and quiet running of this machine. The spring which I use is avast improvement over spiral springs,which have sometimes been used under the ends of the vertical shafts, for the reason that the direct up-and-down movement which it allows the shaft is very inconsiderable, and it acts rather as a diaphragm, absorbing the upand-down vibration of the shaft. This is a very important improvement over the spiral spring. The construction is extremely simple and inexpensive, and the spring can readily be put in place and removed. The threaded bolt 7 is screwed into the split block 5, its lower end bearing against the spring. By this construction the strength of the spring may be varied or any wear in the parts may be taken up and the bolts 7 locked into position by the screws 88.

I claimas my improvement- 1. In combination the frame of a machine of the class specified, the vertical load-bearing, rotating shaft and a flat spring located in the base of the machine and supporting the lower end of said shaft.

2. The combination, with the frame of machine of the class specified and a flat spring arched toward its center located in the base of the machine, of a vertical load-bearing, 

